Alexander Borodai also pledged to release the four detained OSCE observers

Alexander Borodai

DONETSK, June 27. /ITAR-TASS/. Alexander Borodai, the prime minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic, has said the republic’s self-defense forces are ready to extend the truce for the same period as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

“We hope that the ceasefire will become something more than empty talk and empty statements. But this hope is slim and modest,” Borodai told journalists after consultations on the peace settlement in southeast Ukraine.

Alexander Borodai also pledged to release the four detained OSCE observers.

Earlier on Friday, Poroshenko told a news conference in Brussels that he intended to extend the ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine for another 72 hours upon his return from Brussels.

“I need to return (to Kiev) and hold consultations with the military and the government. The ceasefire will be in force until Friday evening. The decision will have been passed by that time,” Poroshenko said.

Initially, the ceasefire was supposed to expire at 23:00 Moscow time on Friday though both parties in conflict claim that in reality there has been no truce or ceasefire in the ground.